file xyz.csv is invalid!

The most common issue I find is that lon / lat are in the wrong columns. POI Loader expects LONGITUDE in the first column. Most people are used to starting with latitude.

Other common issues include finding commas inside the name or description fields (3rd or 4th columns). If commas are included, the field must be enclosed in quotation marks.

Look for these and let us know how it turns out.

JM

JM,

Thank you for your fast reply.
The four columns are longitude, latitude, name, description in quotation marks (address, city, state, zip, phone number). I have saved the file in Microsoft Excel as a csv file, then opened it in Notepad (as .txt) and got the quotation marks for the fourth column. Using JobMaster, I converted the .txt file back into .csv.

Thank you.

Maybe this helps figure it out: I tried to open my file using poiEdit and it gave me the error message: 3 to 4 values expected on line 0.
I have no idea what that means.

Header rows sometimes cause problems. If you have one above your data, try removing it.

Also, sometimes there might be extra columns that don't show in Excel. If you're using Excel to edit the file, try deleting several of the "empty" columns starting with column 5. This may clear out some stray cells that aren't obvious when you're viewing the file on-screen.

Finally, if you're still stuck, I'll give you an email address so you can send me a copy of the file (if you want me to have a look at it).

JM

JM,

If it's not too much trouble, I would really appreciate your taking a look at the file.

Thank you.

I sent an email to your hotmail account earlier today with the subject "invalid csv file". Just reply with the file attached, and I'll take a quick look at it.

JM

Thank you, JM.

I discovered that, whenever I used JobMaster to convert the file from .txt to .csv, it would add the extra quotation marks.

Appreciate your help.

Try swapping your long and lat columns. I used GPS Visualizer to get my coordinages but the lat/long are swapped for the format POI loader is looking for.

or paste a few lines here so we can see.

I spoke with sdp33 via email, and his problem is fixed.

JM

I also get this message with poiEdit. It doesn't happen when I use 3 columns, but does with 4. Interestingly, both files will load into my GPS with poiLoader.

I have a list of addresses that I used GPS Visualizer to add the coordinates, then saved it as a CSV file to Excel file, I also tried to save as a GPX file. All the info was saved in the 1st cell, not in the 4 columns as I wanted, so I could edit the lat & lon. How do I get 4 neat columns to work with? Can the GPX file load into my nuvi 660?